USA Today (9/17, Ramirez) reports Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stated Wednesday they will introduce legislation that “would reinstate the specialized suicide crisis lifeline for LGBTQ+ young people and direct the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to dedicate funding toward ‘re-establishing, operating and maintaining’ the program.” The Administration eliminated the service two months ago, leaving a “void for young LGBTQ+ people who have no place to turn, according to the senators. Before being shut down, a troubled youth could call 988 and press ‘3’ to get connected directly to a counselor specializing in LGBTQ+ issues.” According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the LGBTQ+ program had served nearly 1.6 million young people since its inception, with a rising number of contacts each year.

Related Links:

— “Senators propose bill to reinstate LGBTQ+ youth crisis lifeline option eliminated by Trump,”Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, September 17, 2025

Healio (9/15, Gawel) reports a meta-analysis of more than 50 clinical trials and observational studies presented at the American Neurological Association Annual Meeting 2025 found that the “risks for developing Alzheimer’s disease can increase or decrease depending on when women begin hormone replacement therapy.” Patients in the meta-analysis included “women who used estrogen alone, estrogen and progestin, or estrogen and a selective estrogen receptor modulator after menopause, as well as those who took a placebo or did not receive any treatment.” Researchers observed a “38% increase in risk for Alzheimer’s disease among women who began hormone replacement therapy at age 65 years or older, especially among those who used progestin.” Meanwhile, “women who began therapy around the time of their menopause saw a 22% reduction in risk, based on data from 45 observational studies of real-world outcomes. This increased to a 32% reduction for those who began within 5 years of menopause, based on an analysis of the observational studies and the randomized controlled trials.”

Related Links:

— “Hormone replacement therapy timing linked to Alzheimer’s disease risks,”Richard Gawel, Healio , September 15, 2025

Healio (9/15, Wursta) reports a study found that “patients with autoimmune conditions and chronic inflammation may be at twice the risk for mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety vs. the general population.” The researchers “examined data from the Our Future Health research cohort, which included 1,563,155 participants…in the United Kingdom. Among the cohort, 37,808 patients had lifetime diagnoses of one of six autoimmune conditions: rheumatoid arthritis, Graves’ syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.” The researchers observed that “patients with an autoimmune condition demonstrated significantly higher rates of depression (28.8% vs. 17.9%), bipolar disorder (28.4% vs. 17.8%) and anxiety (29.3% vs. 18%) compared with healthy participants. The researchers additionally found risk for mental health issues in this patient group remained higher even after controlling for variables such as income, history of chronic pain and history of social isolation.” The study was published in BMJ Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, bipolar disorder risks nearly twice as high in patients with autoimmune disease,”Max R. Wursta, Healio , September 15, 2025

Rheumatology Advisor (9/16, Kuhns) reports, “Initiation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) among midlife women aged between 42 and 52 years is associated with a higher risk for fracture compared with nonusers…according to study results.” Meanwhile, the study found that “other antidepressants…were not linked to increased fracture risk.” The findings were published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Related Links:

— “SSRI Use in Women Aged 42 to 52 Years Linked to Increased Fracture Risk,”Lisa Kuhns, Rheumatology Advisor, September 16, 2025

ABC News (9/16, Yu) reports that the HHS “Office of the Surgeon General called youth vaping an ongoing ‘epidemic’ and released a Youth Vaping Resource Guide Monday to raise awareness about the issue.” According to the story, “fifty-six percent of U.S. parents also say that smoking and vaping are a big problem for children and teens in the country, according to an August poll from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital,” and “over 1.6 million students in the U.S. reported using vapes, a practice that can lead to addiction, from 2023 to 2024, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.” Meanwhile, “there’s no consensus among educators on how to cut down on student vaping,” but “some school districts…are banking on using technology like vape detectors to identify and address the issue.”

Related Links:

— “Schools crack down on vaping as new school year gets underway,”Yi-Jin Yu, ABC News, September 16, 2025